Ryan hustles over and gets in between the two men while flexing his incredibly buff biceps in a tank.

Listen for the collective squeals of the pedestrians who quickly realize the impressively muscled Good Samaritan is actually "the guy from the movie...The Notebook"!

The Crazy, Stupid, Love actor physically restrains one of the guys after dropping his grocery bag and eventually helps diffuse the situation and escort him away.

Freelance photographer Valerie Alvea is the one who shot this video (thanks, girl!) and explained to us exactly how Ryan resolved the situation.

"He took them to the corner and asked them what was going on.," she tells E! News. "The gentleman was like 'He stole my painting'. So he [Gosling] gave the guy a $20 and asked if it was settled. He took the money out of his pocket and said 'If that's what you're fighting for, here you go'."

Our eyewitness says no police were involved in the scuffle. Ry's rep hasn't responded to request for comment yet, but we're beyond impressed...and considering staging a street fight ourselves just so Ryan will get physical with us, too. Sigh.